Some final thoughts

The dancing ladies and Nick made it home safe and sound, although not without traveling glitches. We were collected and brought to the Victoria Falls airport by an older woman driver (name lost in jetlag fog). She asked if we saw the big 5, to which Sue responded “everything but a Rhino, so could you please point one out on the way to the airport.” She explained that they are exceedingly rare but they do have one in the game preserve in Zimbabwe so when we come back we should go on a game drive there.  She gave a less than satisfying answer to Sue’s question about what the ladies were carrying in parcels on their heads.

She dropped us at the airport (with a parting dig at the Chinese who built the new addition) and a porter took over. He brought us to a long line waiting to check in for a Fastjet 1:20 pm flight to Johannesburg, but it turned out to be the wrong Fastjet 1:20 pm flight to Johannesburg. We figured it out pretty quickly and checked in, getting gate check tags for our large carryon roller bags. At security, Sue was not allowed to carry on her empty glass water bottle, as it could be broken and used as a knife. Yet we saw several people carrying pointed carved walking sticks on board. We found our gate and waited over an hour only to watch the other 1:20 flight and a 1:40flight (lots of folks going to Johannesburg) leave ahead of us. Our flight finally showed up and we left around 2:10. We made it in plenty of time and found our way to the British Airways transfer desk. There we learned we couldn’t check our roller bags unless we went back out through passport control and re-entered through the main check-in. It would have meant a long walk and waiting in longer lines. A man in line warned us we may have to pay for 2 carryons, but that scenario never materialized. We did have to keep our very dusty bags with us for the duration. It was a bit of a bother but at least the airline couldn’t lose our luggage. 

We managed to do a little shopping in the glitzy Johannesburg airport and then we were off for our 11 hour flight to London. It was a double decker plane, and the plane was very cramped. We took off at 7:30 pm and  arrived at 5:30 am. (London is 1 hour earlier than Johannesburg.) We walked through a labyrinth of hallways only to take an interminably long bus ride to the terminal for our flight to Chicago. Once in the terminal it was a long walk to the gate. The roller bags felt like balls and chains by the time we reached the plane. (Ironic that on the way to Africa, we fretted that they wouldn’t let us keep our bags, and on our way home, we begged them to check them in.) The flight was boarding, and we joined the queue, not exactly looking forward to another long flight. At least this plane was not crowded. Julie was able to move across the aisle with an empty seat next to her. The flight was over 8 hours, and sleeping was more difficult. We arrived in Chicago, cleared customs, and Julie grabbed a cab. Sue and Nick had over an hour wait for the bus to Milwaukee. Even though it was only 1:30 pm when we got home, it was hard to keep our eyes open. Julie felt the same once a mild buzz at being home wore off. Hopefully the jetlag will end soon. When Sue & Nick opened their garage door, we noticed an asphalt company’s sign leaning against the garbage can. We hadn’t ordered any seal coating. Apparently the contractor was supposed to seal coat 11669 and instead did our driveway 11699.  As they say in the song, “Everybody funny.” 

Some parting thoughts about our once in a lifetime trip:  

Both Samo and Ona were terrific guides. The Zimbabwe guides were not as good. Even so, Victoria Falls was definitely worth seeing. 

The very first jeep ride was very very bumpy. Ona promised it was the worst one and would get better but I’m not sure it really did. I think we just got more used to it. The roads were mostly sand. The faster he drove, the more it flew. It was extremely dusty. The dust permeated everything- even the suitcases that were not with us on game drives. When Sue put her suitcase on the white bedspread in Victoria Falls, it left a bunch of dirt behind. When Julie sat on the white duvet on the bed at one of the camps wearing her drive clothes, it left a perfect silhouette of her backside (still trying to figure out why they chose white). Sue and Julie left behind in Victoria Falls the shoes they wore most. They were never going to come clean. Although we were advised to bring sturdy walking shoes, they were never necessary and took up an inordinate amount of room in our bags. 

While seeing the leopard and lions (especially the cubs) was extremely cool, perhaps the best sights were the impala and satatunga leaping across the channels in front of us. 

While aboard the boat for the sundown cruise, we sailed past a hotel where there was music playing. Nick said, “They are listening to Powderfinger!” For those who may not know, this is a favorite Neal Young
tune with the opening line: “Look out Mama, there’s a white boat coming up the river.”

Being at Linyanti camp for Botswana’s Independence Day was incredibly special. The staff sincerely acted thrilled to share the celebration with us. Whenever they sang at least one of the women usually threw in a loud, distinctive trilling. Ona explained the tradition as a sign of approval by the oldest woman in the village, although nowadays younger women are also free to express themselves this way.

The blog posts were composed on our phones, with the evil autocorrect, and some typos inevitably were missed. Mostly we recorded our adventures so we could look back and remember details but we were happy to share and regret that we couldn’t receive comments directly on the blog. Pictures were difficult to upload but we hope to add many more eventually. 

In closing, as they say for a toast in Botswana, “Pula!” (Roughly translated this means rain.)